Residents in Northwest Haiti fought back against kidnapping attempt, now they call for help as gangs  retaliate

PORT-DE-PAIX— Residents of La Croix Saint-Joseph in Northwest Haiti are pleading for permanent security forces after a failed kidnapping attempt led to violent gang reprisals, leaving homes and farms torched, animals slaughtered and entire families displaced.

​​On June 10, four heavily armed members of the Kokorat San Ras gang—based in Tibwadòm and affiliated with the Viv Ansanm criminal coalition—kidnapped 69-year-old civil engineer Franck Adrien and his wife from their home in Saint-Louis-du-Nord, a coastal town northeast of Port-de-Paix. As the kidnappers attempted to flee through La Croix Saint-Joseph, a key farming community and crossroads connecting the North, Artibonite and Northwest departments, local residents blocked their path, killed one of the gang members and freed the hostages.

Lafortune Toussaint, spokesperson for the Haitian National Police (PNH) in the Northwest Department, confirmed that residents killed one kidnapper. Others escaped.

“Thanks to the collaboration between residents and police, the victims were freed without ransom,” Toussaint said. “All citizens must work with us to resist the gangs.”

Still, the incident sparked a wave of retaliation. The gang returned to La Croix Saint-Joseph, torching homes and farms, killing livestock and threatening to unleash even more violence.

“The Northwest Department must not become a new hotbed of gangs,” said Jéir Pierre, Government Commissioner for Port-de-Paix. “It is unthinkable that our region should suffer the same fate as parts of the West and Artibonite.”

Yet, residents live in fear as gang signals grow.

“The gang made it clear they will return,” said Édouanise Ténor, 58. “Only a permanent police presence can spare us from their fury.”

For his part, John Peter Joseph, 29, emphasized the urgency: “If the authorities do not act now, we will fall under the gangs’ brutal grip.”

Residents say early signs suggest the Viv Ansanm gang coalition’s affiliate is looking to expand its reach into the Northwest Department, particularly Saint-Louis-du-Nord, one of the few regions that had remained relatively free of gang control.

Adrien’s driver, Jean Hyppolite, 37, was injured during the attack. He was initially taken to the Austrian Hospital, then transferred to Beraca Hospital due to the lack of surgical specialists.

The engineer’s was wife raped by the assailants during the kidnapping, according to local police reports. The couple was released less than 24 hours later due to the intervention of La Croix Saint-Joseph’s residents and police informants.

Adrien, director of the GMA Construction firm, is overseeing a $15 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded road project connecting Port-de-Paix, Saint-Louis-du-Nord and Anse-à-Foleur.

Attack signals resurgence of gang activities amid displacement and food supply risks                                                                   

The incident marks the first major gang activity in the area in nearly three years. Local gangs in Saint-Louis-du-Nord had been dismantled during previous police operations, including the April 2021 takedown of the area’s three gang leaders known as Levelt, Maxo and Tempête.                                

Residents also beheaded another notorious gang leader, Éric Prospère, on October 2, 2022.

The June 10-11 assault has displaced several farming families, threatening Port-de-Paix’s food supply. La Croix Saint-Joseph is a key agricultural hub that supplies bananas, yams, corn, beans, yuca, vegetables, goat meat, pork and lamb to the department’s capital city’s nearly 400,000 residents.

“If the bandits take over, it will be fatal,” said farmer Jeannine Daniel. “They burned our gardens, killed our pigs and goats—we had to flee.”

Calls for law enforcement action are pressing.

Officials say the attack came just weeks after police arrested eight individuals for drug trafficking in Saint-Louis-du-Nord on May 29, suggesting an aggravated retaliatory motive.

“This region has shown resilience,” said Commissioner Pierre. “But the state must act now, or lose another part of the country’s critical regions to criminal control.”

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